Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 157 Shloka 9 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 9

Devanagari script

धुरि ये नावसीदन्ति विषये सदगवा इव । पितृदेवातिथिमुखा हव्यकव्याग्रभोजिन:

Transliteration

dhuri ye nāvasīdanti viṣaye sadgavā iva | pitṛdevātithimukhā havyakavyāgrabhojinaḥ ||

Translation

धुरि ये नावसीदन्ति विषये सद्गवा इव। पितृदेवातिथिमुखा हव्यकव्याग्रभोजिनः॥

Word by Word

धुरिon the yoke / in the burden-bearing position

येwho (those who)

नnot

अवसीदन्तिsink down / become slack / fail

विषयेin the sphere (of duty) / in the domain

सत्good / noble

गवाःbulls/oxen

इवlike / as

पितृ-देव-अतिथि-मुखाःhaving (as) mouths the Fathers, gods, and guests (i.e., whose ‘mouths’ are they)

हव्य-कव्य-अग्र-भोजिनःeating first portions of oblations to gods (havyā) and to ancestors (kavyā)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

pitṛ (ancestors)

deva (gods)

atithi (guest)

havya (offerings to gods)

kavya (offerings to ancestors)

oxen (metaphorical comparison)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Steadfastness in bearing one’s responsibilities—especially the practical burdens of dharma in worldly life—is a mark of the truly virtuous. Such people become foremost beneficiaries of religious merit and social honor, symbolized by receiving the first portions in offerings to gods and ancestors and by being central to hospitality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises those who do not falter under duty. Using the image of strong oxen under a yoke, he describes exemplary householders/virtuous persons as primary recipients in ritual and hospitality—metaphorically the ‘mouths’ through which gods, ancestors, and guests are served.